"Is this...Is this you?" Without looking to the magazine, Harry blinked; his eyes holding hers as he spoke.

"Yes." His words echoed in her ears; in her heart. "It's me."

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

"Oh my God..." Her voice was barely above a whisper as doubt and mistrust washed over her in waves. And suddenly, it was like she was looking at somebody else—not the man she had known for a year and a half, not the man who had taken her home for her birthday, not the man who she was in love with. It didn't make any sense; none of it—it was completely out of tune with his character and yet he had just admitted..."What?" Maddie felt her stomach clench; her throat tighten as she looked at him, confused.

"Maddie..." He reached out to her.

"I need to sit down," she pushed past him and moved to the couch. "This is you?"

"Yes..." Maddie cringed. "You said honest if it hurts."

"Well it fucking hurts," she scowled at him. "I can't believe this. I..."

"But..." That wasn't all; that wasn't it. Before he could open his mouth, before he could step in and cut this off, the conversation was out of his hands.

"No buts!" Her voice rose as tears sprang to her eyes; her inability to figure out what she wanted to do next rendering her an emotional mess. "Jesus. I didn't actually expect you to say yes."

"Are you going to let me explain?"

"Explain what?!" She yelled. "It's you! You said it's you and you are clearly kissing somebody who is clearly not me! What the hell else is there to explain?! Who is she?"

"I don't know," he shook his head with a shrug.

"You don't know?! Harry!" Maddie's eyes were wide; crazy—the way her mind felt. Harry opened his mouth to speak, but she hurried ahead of him, not sure if she was able to handle hearing his explanation for things. "Don't! Don't speak. I don't think I can do this right now. I'm too mad and irrational and..." She knew her emotional upheaval had no intention of ceding ground to her calm, rational side anytime soon. "I think you need to go."

"Go?" He shook his head; desperately wanting to get a hold of the situation. It had already gone too far. "No way. I'm not going anywhere. Not until you let me..."

"Fine," Maddie's eyes narrowed into a glare as she moved to her feet.

"What are you doing?" His eyes were wide as he watched her. "Where are you going?"

"I think you should go before I scream for help and Nathan has to break down my door and come in here to drag you to safety!"

"Would you please calm down?" Harry glanced to the door; rising to his feet to follow her.

"Calm down?! No! I will not calm down! I..." Maddie blinked at the tears in her eyes. "I can't do this right now Harry. I don't want to yell and scream at you. I don't want to be this crazy person! I don't want to grill you about your...mistress..."

"Mistress?" He couldn't help the laugh that pushed through his lips; though he regretted it immediately. "You are blowing this completely out of proportion."

"Oh I am, am I?"

"Yes!" His eyebrows shot up, his hands spread out in front of him.

"Why? Because you didn't sleep with her?! Oh my God..." Maddie's stomach turned. "You didn't sleep with her did you?"

"Of course not," his eyes grew serious. "Maddie if you just..."

"No," her voice was quiet, her eyes pleading as she tried not to cry. "I won't just...I can't just...I can't do this. I won't be the woman that turns the other way while you... I can't turn the other way. I'm sorry I just..."

"Please don't cry," he reached for her hand then and, in her moment of weakness, she let him take it. "Madeline, you don't understand..."

"What don't I understand?" She sniffed; hating the crazy way she felt. "This is you and another woman. You're in the park...really Harry, the park? And you're kissing her. You're kissing her the way you kiss me." Maddie took her hand from his, walking away from him then, back into her living room.

"I'm not kissing her the way I kiss you," he shook his head.

"What else is there to understand Harry? Tell me. Because...I want more than anything to hear something that's going to take away this terrible feeling that is sweeping away all of the good stuff I have been carrying around since I met you and..."

"The photo was taken a year ago." His words were quick, to the point, and threw Maddie so far off track that she almost forgot to inhale. All of the momentum that had been building came to a sudden screeching halt as she stopped in her tracks.

"What?" She exhaled.

"I was at a festival in the park a year ago. I had left you in Bendal. We were talking on the phone. It wasn't long before I flew back to kiss you to tell you that I loved you, to...I was confused and I was...I don't know. I was smashed and she was...willing and..." Harry walked towards her.

"A year ago?!" Maddie's voice rose; spinning around to face him. "You mean we weren't even together when you..."

"We weren't," he shook his head; his face open and honest. Maddie watched him for a long, solid minute while her brain tried to sort it all out.

"But the article..."

"It's wrong. It's mostly wrong. It is me. I am kissing a...stranger. But it was before you. That's the twist. It was..."

"Harry!" She smacked his arm; exasperated by the roller coaster her heart was on.

"Ouch!" He flinched; his hand moving to rub where she had hit. "Why are you hitting me now?"

"Why didn't you tell me that to begin with?"

"You wouldn't let me talk."

"That is something that you break in with! You should have started with that! Not...have you seen it? Or what do you think? You start with it was a year ago, it was before you Maddie."

"Well I know that now and I'll keep it in mind for next time."

"Next time?!" Maddie shook her head. "I don't want a next time. I can't do a next time." And Harry's heart broke.

"Maddie," his voice was soft, soothing. "This isn't the first time that the press has made something out of nothing. It is not the first time they've twisted something like this. In a world with so many uncertainties, one thing I know for sure...there will be a next time. There probably won't be old pictures and it will definitely not be true but..."

"But..." Her voice was quieter now; her eyes less crazy, more sad as she looked to him. "I don't want there to be a next time."

"I know," he breathed.

"What do we do?" Her eyes looked to him for answers as she sank back down to the couch. Though he was thankful for her use of 'we', he couldn't help but be concerned about her; about them.

"Nothing," he shook his head; sitting on the coffee table in front of her, his hands moving to hers.

"Nothing?" Her face twisted up; not pleased with his answer. "We can't call the magazine? Or have an attorney call or...or issue a statement or..."

"No," he shook his head again. "We can do none of those things."

"But what if people just go on thinking that you're a cheater and..."

"People are going to go on thinking that I'm a cheater." The resolve in his eyes made Maddie want to cry.

"That's not fair."

"This isn't about fair Maddie. You know that. You knew that walking into this..."

"You're really not going to address this?"

"I am really not going to address this. Not with the press, not with the public. I'm addressing it with you now. I'll address it with my family and my PR people and I'll address it with any one of our friends or your family that you want me to, but I won't be making any statements or..."

"Why not?"

"Because!" Harry took a breath; trying to calm his frustrations. "Because if I address this article, I have to start addressing them all."

"Then address them all." She knew she sounded crazy but she just couldn't seem to help herself.

"That's ludicrous!" He shook his head. "I cannot possible address all of the articles and photos and...and what happens when I start to do that? What happens when I miss one? Everyone will think that's the one that must be true. He refuted all of the others but this one so... Maddie. That is a crazy, circuitous world of nonsense. One into which I will not be stepping."

"But people will think..."

"Then let them think it." He shrugged.

"That's it?"

"Yes. That's it."

"You're not going to stand up and say 'No! This is not who I am. I would never do this. I love Maddie and..."

"I will, to you, Maddie I swear to you," He moved from the table, kneeling in front of her, taking her hands in his. "This is not who I am. I would never do this. I love you and I will always love and I will never be unfaithful to you..."

"Harry..."

"You know that, don't you?" His eyes searched hers. "You believe me, don't you?"

"Yes," she nodded; she did—with every part of her.

"Then that's just going to have to be enough."

"But...when that website said they had photos of me, you jumped all over it. I got an attorney and..."

"That was different."

"How?"

"You're a private citizen Maddie. I'm not. That's the simple answer."

"What's the complex answer?"

"That my entire life has been showcased by the press, that the palace doesn't comment on the personal lives of the royal family, that meriting this with a response is below us and..." He took a breath. "And this isn't the first time a magazine has taken a shot at us."

"I know. But it's the first time it's really been you. It's the first time there have been pictures. It's the first time you admitted..."

"I should have started with it was a year ago..." Maddie nodded; wiping at her eyes and Harry rose to his feet, rubbing his hand up over his face and into his hair as he walked away from her. "You know, this is never going to work if you don't trust me." Neither of them looked to the other as he continued. "The press, they like to play me as...as the playboy. They like to make me out to be so much more smooth and suave than I really am. They like to put me in clubs that I've never been to. They like to have me kissing women I've never even met. And nothing is as good of a story as a son repeating his father's mistakes..." Maddie couldn't find her voice to speak as he continued. "They will do this again, Maddie. Maybe a week from now, maybe next year. They will do it when we're married, when we have children. They will continue to find one sensational way after another to sell a magazine. They don't have to have pictures. They have 'anonymous sources' and 'allegedly' and...it will happen again." He turned to face her then; leaning back against her wall and with the saddest eyes he asked, "is this what's going to happen every time that happens?"

"This?" She looked up at him; her eyes matching his.

"Not too long ago you said that they could throw anything at you, that you could take whatever they had lined up..."

"About me," she interrupted. "They can say whatever they want about me. This isn't about me," she waved at the magazine. "This is about you. They are tearing you apart, assassinating your character, calling you all kinds of names and..."

"Are you kidding me?" He laughed; pushing away from the wall, moving towards her. "This is about protecting me? Maddie...I can take this. I can...God..." He breathed, sitting down next to her on the couch. "I can take them inventing things about me. As long as you and I know the truth...and the people around us know the truth, I can take this. You don't need to worry about me," his hand moved to her cheek then, stroking a strand of hair from her face. "But I can't handle this," he wiped at a tear. "If you being here, being with me...if it's going to make you feel like this every time something like this happens..." His words caught in his throat; his eyes glossed over. "I can't do this forever, Maddie."

"Yeah," Maddie nodded; holding his hand to her cheek as fresh tears brewed in her eyes. "I know..." She sniffed. "I can't either."

And then, because neither of them dared speak for fear of the avalanche that might unfold, Harry's hand moved to her neck, pulling her to him. He pressed a kiss to her forehead and she settled her head onto his shoulder.

And the silence was absolutely deafening.

To Be Continued....